Great Ex-Pat Internet Resources

I’ve always been wary of the term “ex-pat” – which is short for “ex-patriot” – as it makes me feel like I’ve turned my back on my country. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Back in the late 1980’s, it dawned on me that I hadn’t been back to the United States in nearly 5 years. Nearly 25 years later I hadn’t been back more than a handful of times. By then it was pretty much understood that my interests lie elsewhere. In the interim I missed entire phenomenon’s – didn’t even realize “Friends” had been on television for 10 years until it stated playing on Italian TV. Was to busy drinking ouzo in Greece to know what Bud “ice” was all about. But that’s o-k. I missed the Macey’s Day Parade but sat on a beach in Thailand, didn’t catch Dick Clark counting down the end of the year cuz I was sipping champagne on top of the Eiffel Tower. I’m certainly not alone in these pursuits. There are thousands of individuals from all over the world who have picked up and moved somewhere else besides their native land. And therein sits the real definition of an “ex-pat.

To that end, there are some exceptional ex-pat resources on the internet. Required reading for anyone who is planning on living somewhere else, or perhaps has already settled down where “somewhere else” happens to be. The most interesting ex-pat resources fall under the umbrella of EscapeArtist.com (that would be www.escapeartist.com for those of you that want to get technical). EscapeArtist.com has been on-line since 1994 and is like a portal to another world. Pull up the site and you’ll see such topics as:

– Living Overseas
– Country Profiles
– International Real Estate
– Investing Offshore
– Overseas Employment

I don’t think I’m wrong by saying that the majority of ex-pats happen to be retirees who are no longer tied to the need or responsibility of having to work day in and day out. Certainly having a monthly pension makes living in a foreign country a lot easier. There are ex-pat communities in Australia, Honduras, Belize, Puerto Rico and in many other countries: safe-havens that allow ex-pats a place to live well and live on the cheap. Still, just as many ex-pats are still working – as teachers, or restaurant owners, in import or export or any number of other jobs. Thanks to the internet, low-cost travel and overseas employment, the world continues to get smaller and easier to access.

EscapeArtist.com covers all this and more and serves as a conduit for the ex-pat community. The International Real Estate section is worth noting because you can look at premier properties all over the world, and each property usually links to other properties in a specific country or region.

EscapeArtist.com is your ticket to ride. It offers a host of ex-pat resources and eZines. At the top of the list is “Escape From America” magazine. And it is concerned with exactly what it implies: all the information you could possibly want in order to go live elsewhere and have the time of your life while you’re at it. Escape From America magazine is a free monthly eZine that you can read on-line or download and print as a hard copy.

The most enjoyable and useful aspect of Escape Artist is the many articles that comprise this eZine. Informative content written by ex-pats who not only have “been there” but are “still” there! Where else are you going to find articles concerning where the best rentals are in Shanghai, or how to purchase a house Nepal, or how to get the most bang for your buck in India? Typical topics in Escape From America magazine are like the ones found in the September 2006 issue:

– Uruguay: Diary of an ex-pat
– Being in Beijing
– Brazil or Bust
– Living in Argentina

Escape from America magazine also has a section dedicated to classified ads – offers for employment, low-cost telephone service providers, travel-related information and much more. All valuable to the individual living overseas or planning to go in the future.

An archive section lets you access material from months and years before.

Escape Artist is free. And it is easy to sign up. As long as you’re at it, why not sign up for Escape Artist’s companion ‘zines such as “International Living”, “Offshore Real Estate” and “Transactions Abroad”. “International Living” in particular has been around for over 20 years and has only recently gone online in the last few years. A perfect bookend for “Escape From America” magazine, International Living is just as informative yet manages not to be redundant and spit out the same information.

All are packed full of important information that provide a realistic outlook of what it takes to live overseas, or if you already are overseas, what it takes to stay there!